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MLB WORLD SERIES: PHILLIES v YANKEES

November 4, 2009

Joe Girardi

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Game Six

Philadelphia Phillies 3
New York Yankees 7

JOE GIRARDI: First of all, I would love to congratulate the Phillies, Charlie Manuel, their whole organization, the job that they've done. They're an extremely tough opponent. I know Charlie is extremely proud of his club. To them, they won the World Series last year, and we were fortunate enough to win it this year. But it's a great ballclub with a lot of heart.

Q. It was a pretty gutsy move when you decided to pick that number, 27, when you took the job here. There has to be a great deal of satisfaction on your part to deliver what you promised when you took the job?
JOE GIRARDI: Well, there is, for this whole organization. Tony LaRussa, I know he did it in St. Louis and that was kind of the idea that I got, and I have so much respect for him and all the managers that I have played for. I really believe in this club, I've always believed in this organization, the job the Steinbrenner family has done, Cashman and his staff, and it's where we wanted to be, and the guys did it.

Q. For someone who's been in the organization for a considerable length of time in several different roles, what does it mean to the Yankees once again to be preeminent in baseball?
JOE GIRARDI: Well, this is what the Steinbrenner family has strived for year after year after year and has tried to deliver to the city of New York. George Steinbrenner and his family are champions. To be able to deliver this to the Boss, the stadium that he created and the atmosphere he has created around here is very gratifying for all of us.

Q. Have you ever seen Hideki Matsui so locked in? And tell us what you think he meant to the team tonight.
JOE GIRARDI: Well, we have. You think about the 450 at-bats that he had this year and the production that he had, if he could have played every day, he would have drove in 130 runs, and that's an amazing year. And tonight, he was huge. I just think about the first at-bat that he had against Pedro, what a tough at-bat, and he hit some balls hard foul and he kept at it and kept at it and got us the lead, and I thought that was extremely important.

Q. Hideki Matsui on Opening Day in 2003 homers, a grand slam in a 7-3 win by Andy Pettitte. Tonight's game almost mirrors that performance. Was it destiny that this team was going to win tonight when you woke up this morning? Did you feel that the team was going to win this evening?
JOE GIRARDI: Well, I felt good about this club all year. I said in Spring Training, we had a very good club. You know, to me it's fitting that you win at home in front of these great fans. They've been so important to this organization and what we've been able to do here. As far as Mattie, Mattie has been a clutch player ever since I met him. And again, he was just clutch. We missed him dearly last year, and we missed Posada dearly last year. We had some guys that had some pretty serious surgeries and were able to get back, and I really tip my cap to those guys. You think about Alex and Mo and Posada and Matsui, what they had to do to get back, it just shows you the determination and the heart of these gentlemen.

Q. How do you compare with having won as a player and now as a manager? Obviously much different roles. Is it better? How do you compare the two?
JOE GIRARDI: The joy is the same, but it's a different type of joy. As a player it's what you dream about ever since you were a little boy, and for me it was listening to Curt Gowdy and do all the World Series games.
As a manager you still have that joy, but the joy is for other people, because you know as a player what it takes to win a championship. And for all of us behind the scenes work that it takes, it starts with the Boss and his family and Brian Cashman and his staff and the developmental people, Mark Newman and Pat Roessler and I think about all the coaches and all the players that we brought up from Triple-A, some of them from Double-A last year, the job that they did, I am so happy for all those people, because a lot of times they're not recognized, but I think about Pat Roessler and what he does in the organization and all the scouts that were out and away from their families for a month and a half, two months, scouting all these teams, they are such a big part of this, and I'm happy for them.

End of FastScripts

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